


White Dove For A Soldier

by wingedwitch



Category: Smallville, Supernatural
Genre: Crossover, Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-18
Updated: 2011-08-18
Packaged: 2017-12-08 01:46:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingedwitch/pseuds/wingedwitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A casual conversation turns into a panic attack, or something like it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	White Dove For A Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> Established Clark/Ruby friendship...sort of. There was definitely some manipulation in there somewhere. Title from All That I Am by Rob Thomas.
> 
> This is the longest single scene I've ever written as well as the longest _fic_ I've ever written. I didn't really have anything in mind when I started, just let to story go where it was going to go. I hope _someone_ enjoys my insanity.

"I didn't know you were into astronomy."

It was the first thing Ruby noticed when she wandered into the loft where Clark Kent spent way too much of his time. In a way it made sense. Broad-shouldered farm boy or not, he did give off a slight nerdy vibe. Given Smallville's history with meteor showers, it didn't seem too unlikely for his eyes to turn to the stars.

Though the way he subtly moved the telescope away from where he'd been looking sent her gears twisting in a different direction, even as he tried on that innocent look he was way too good at.

"My dad got one for me when I was a kid."

She nodded as she moved closer, understanding what his long gone father meant to him. She motioned toward the telescope.

"Mind if I have a look?"

As soon as he gave his nod of permission, she lowered her head and very gradually began to turn it back to his original position.

To her surprise, he reached out to grip it. When she looked up, he had a knowing look on his face, and if she wasn't imagining it, a small flicker of amusement.

"Did you really think you could get away with that?"

She sighed as she straightened up.

"I had to try, didn't I?" She tilted her head, giving him a look. "Come on, it's not like I don't know what you're looking at. Or should I say who?"

Clark stared back at her, his expression alone conveying his denial, but it wasn't long before he gave up and turned his gaze out the barn window. "It's not like it's a hobby of mine." He paused, head dipping a bit lower. "Not since I was fourteen, anyway."

Ruby crossed her arms and leaned back against the window pane. Though she was tempted to take a jab at what was obviously a sensitive subject, she knew better when it came to him. "Why the sudden regression?"

Okay, so maybe she couldn't resist. It got a look from him, but it quickly subsided. "I'm worried about her."

She nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. "You don't trust the Winchesters."

He turned back to her. "They're hiding something. I can feel it."

Ruby pushed herself up again, moving closer and placing her hand over his that was still resting on the telescope. "Everyone has secrets, Kent." She stared straight into his eyes. "Sometimes they have good reasons for keeping them."

He was silent, looking back at her with a gaze so steady it was almost unnerving. She felt her skin heat the second his eyes shifted to her lips. She had been expecting this, pushing ever so gently, waiting for this so long she thought she might be losing her touch, but _finally_ his mind was lingering there, maybe long enough for him to give in.

What she didn't expect was how she felt when his eyes returned. For a moment, it seemed like he was staring straight into her soul, and she actually feared he would see she wasn't what she seemed.

Clark Kent wasn't a hunter, or even anything reasonably close to being bigoted. She was fairly sure that if he knew what she was, he would never judge her or hurt her simply based on that.

So what was she so afraid of?

Ruby lowered her head, taking a step back and pulling her hand back in. "Clark, there are things you don't know about me."

There was a pause. She didn't know what that meant, but she couldn't risk looking up to find out. "Yeah. I kinda got that."

She shook her head. "I don't think you do." She lifted her head again, trying her best to look him in the eye. "The things I've done..." Ruby couldn't even finish her sentence and she hated it. "Don't."

She watched as his brows furrowed in confusion. "Don't what?"

"Don't look at me the way you do. You don't know who you're looking at."

She turned, wanting to get out of the barn as fast as she could, but she barely got a step in before she felt his hand gripping her arm.

"Ruby."

His tone was so firm yet so gentle and it absolutely terrified her.

"Let go," she said, not even turning her head to look at him.

There was another pause, a longer one, one she hoped meant he would do as she told him.

His grip loosened, but he didn't release her. "Stay."

She turned, staring at him with wide eyes, having no clue how to respond.

Clark stared back at her with the same genuine expression she'd seen dozens of times. "Whatever you've done, it's not too late to start over."

Ruby shook her head at him. "You're not human."

At that his face fell, just enough for her to notice. "What?"

She turned her body fully toward him. "You're not human. You can't be. No human could be as good as you are."

Clark paused. He was trying not to let on, but she could see it. In her fear she'd slipped and tipped him off that maybe there was something about her that wasn't quite normal. "I don't think you give humanity enough credit."

She paused too, choosing her words more carefully this time. "I think you give humanity too much."

"Ruby," he said again, but she didn't let him finish. She took a couple of steps backward and crossed her arms over her chest. Somehow it made her feel more comfortable. He got the message and stayed put, but it didn't keep him from speaking his mind. "If you're not ready to tell me, that's okay." He paused again. "Being different doesn't mean you're not human."

"I'm more than different," she said, catching his assumption. "You wouldn't understand."

His expression gave him away in a subtle way that most never notice. "You'd be surprised."

Her lips pressed together in a thin line in frustration.

"Fine."

Maybe it was stupid, but he wasn't getting it. He didn't understand why he should just let her go, and for some reason she was kicking herself for, she cared enough to _make_ him understand.

When Ruby closed her eyes they were blue; when they opened they were jet black, from corner to corner.

"I'm a demon, Kent." She stepped forward, and not in the causal way she had before. It was slick and predatory, just as a demon's step should be. "I _used_ to be human. Then I went to Hell, and _this_?" She spread her arms, her words getting sharper as she went on. " _This_ is what happened. And it happens to _every_ human, Kent, every human who's _stupid_ enough to sell themselves." She stepped closer. "It doesn't matter what they ask for or why they do it. Every human soul, no matter who they were in life, becomes _this_ , and in my experience? It was there the whole time. It just needs to be exposed."

Part of her wasn't even the slightest bit shocked that he stood his ground, searching her dark eyes for what she guessed was some sign of the girl he thought he knew.

She should have seen it coming. In a way, she did. That didn't make it any less jarring.

"And you want me to believe you're just a monster I should run away from?"

In the time it took for her to stare in disbelief, his face changed. It warmed, his eyes holding a certain sparkle, and usually, she mirrored it in a slightly more twisted way. This time it felt like mocking, like a punch in the face she just _had_ to return. Ruby pulled back her elbow and set her aim upward, but he caught her fist in the air just short of his jaw. She tried again with the other with similar success.

Clark seemed to be enjoying himself.

"I thought a demon would put up a better fight."

Her temper flared again and she kicked him square between his legs, a blow that finally connected.

"Son of a bitch!"

She hunched over in pain just the same as he did, carefully balancing herself on her other leg.

His eyes were wide for a second before he squeezed them shut. "I take that back."

That, at least, gave her some satisfaction, but it didn't take away the pain, or the fact that it wouldn't change a damn thing between them.

She made the mistake of trying to walk. "I think your dick broke my foot."

Clark started to laugh, which earned him a glare. He held up a hand as he tried to quiet himself. "Sorry, it's not funny, it just―" He stopped mid-sentence to limp over and lift her into his arms and carry her to the nearby couch. "It's just the way you said it."

"You mean like a woman pain?" She said as flatly as she could manage.

He paused in thought as he sat beside her. "It's a unique sentence."

He opened his mouth again, but she didn't let him get a word out. "You didn't have to carry me, you know."

He nodded. "So you were gonna hop over?"

Ruby shrugged. "I thought about jumping out the window." She said it as casually as anyone would talk about the weather.

He pressed his lips into a line. "Are you okay?"

"It'll heal, Kent," she answered gruffly, focusing her eyes on her foot. "Pretty fast, too."

"That's not what I meant."

Somewhere inside her she knew it wasn't. It was why she was avoiding his eyes again.

He didn't let that stop him from moving closer. It was a moment before he spoke.

"My planet was destroyed not long after I was born."

 _That_ got her attention, enough that she forgot her fear and whipped her head around to look at him. "Whoa, wait, your _planet_?"

He grinned in that same warm way that lit up his whole face. "That's not the reaction I was expecting."

Ruby gave him a skeptical look. "You're not a leprechaun, right? Like king of the leprechauns?"

Clark laughed again, shaking his head. "Not a leprechaun." His expression became more serious. "It was called Krypton. My parents―my birth parents―sent me here to save me. There aren't many of us left."

She nodded, taking a moment to absorb the information. "Guess that explains why I've never run across anyone like you before."

He nodded, leaning a little closer. "I don't know any life than the one I've had on Earth, but the truth is, I'm not human, and I never will be."

She knew where he was going with this. "So neither of us is human. What's your point?"

He looked at her again with that soul-piercing stare. "I was raised here, surrounded by humans, learning to live like a human. Because of that, I'm not like any of the other Kryptonians I've met―just like I don't believe you're like most demons."

Ruby was really starting to hate this guy.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe not―but I'm right, aren't I?"

She averted her eyes again, but didn't turn away, at least not until he reached up to cup her face.

His response was to do the same on the other side and gently turn her head back toward him.

She shut her eyes so she didn't have to look into his.

"Don't." The word was almost a whisper.

He only moved closer. She could feel the heat of his breath on her face.

"It's okay, Ruby," he answered, his tone soft and gentle and what should have been comforting but wasn't. When he kissed her, she stiffened, but it didn't take long for her lust to come rushing back to the surface.

She pulled her still wounded foot under her and gave into him.

Somehow the pain made it easier.


End file.
